


!Error: Unknown

by PhantomDreamshade



Series: What have you done with my Fourth Wall? [2]
Category: Deltarune (Video Game), OneShot (Video Game), Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: And you really need to read the previous fic first, Gender-Neutral Kris, Gender-Neutral Niko, Gender-neutral Reader, Multiple routes, Other, Reader Is Not Frisk (Undertale), Reader is not Kris, Reader is the Player from OneShot, Tags may be updated as we go, The romance is in the background and very light, Who needs genders anyway, sequel fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-07
Updated: 2020-01-12
Packaged: 2020-11-26 17:14:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 15,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20933807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhantomDreamshade/pseuds/PhantomDreamshade
Summary: For the first time in a very long time, you were utterly and truly baffled.You'd left the game worlds behind, consigning yourself to a normal life in the real world./#$%/You'd been living in the game world, everything you'd ever known lost to you forever.And now, you were stuck in a body that wasn't your own, with two of your dearest friends dragged along for the ride. What was this world? Who brought you here? Why?...And was there a better ending waiting for you out there after all?





	1. How to Play

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the game!

A short note to the readers before you begin reading the story in earnest. This is the second work of a series - and this fic will make exactly zero sense if you haven’t read the first work,  _ A Waking God. _ That said…

If you’ve read  _ A Waking God,  _ you’ll know that there were two endings - which this story continues from. For sake of coherency, I might recommend picking one ending to read from? Not that I can stop you from reading both at once, haha.

Unless I say otherwise,  **even-numbered chapters ** (2, 4, 6, etc.) will continue from the  _ I Have Places to Go _ ending.  **Odd-numbered chapters** (3, 5, 7, etc.) will continue from the  _ I Want to Stay With You  _ ending.

So - thank you for reading, and without further ado…


	2. A Dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You take a survey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From the _ I Have Places to Go _ route.

“Are you there?”

The words only registered to you slowly; it was difficult to make out the voice. Your head felt fuzzy, like you were dreaming.

“Are we connected?”

You were shocked fully awake by a loud noise and a blaze of red filling your vision. It coalesced into a scarlet heart - you stared at it, memories flooding your skull. Undertale. OneShot. An adventure that had ended months ago.

You were dreaming, clearly. You’d never see your soul manifest out here, in the real world.

“Excellent. Truly excellent. Now… we may begin.”

The soul flashed out of existence in another burst of red, and your vision was instead encompassed by a dim grey haze. You tried to turn your head and look around, but your body didn’t respond. You couldn’t feel anything, in fact. It was like your mind wasn’t attached to anything.

...You knew that feeling too well. Your final fight with Chara. Something felt off.

“First, you must create a vessel.”

Vessel. Like an avatar. That was all gone now. The story was over. You’d tried to push all of it out of your mind all this time, tried to move on with your life. It figured that in your dreams you’d still be reaching for the magic you’d left behind.

“Select the head that you prefer.”

A selection of blank heads appeared in front of you, and you picked the one closest to what your original avatar had been. As long as you were asleep you might as well play along.

“Select the torso that you prefer.”

Once again, you were given a few options. You chose one.

...This didn’t feel like a dream. You were too lucid. You  _ knew  _ the feeling of being outside your body.

“Select the legs that you prefer.”

...The legs all looked the same as far as you could tell. As if the disembodied voice had a sense of humor. This all felt too  _ real.  _ There was no possible way this had anything to do with the game worlds - they couldn’t affect you like you could affect them.

Maybe something had happened in the hospital and they had to put you back under anesthesia. Though the last time you’d been doped up on painkillers and anesthetics you definitely didn’t remember things being this… vivid.

“This is your body. Do you accept it?”

You hesitated. No, this  _ had  _ to be real, and the thought made your heart pound. What could this possibly be? A trick by Chara? Your friends trying to reach out to you? A trick of your own imagination?

Could there really be another adventure out there for you?

You said yes.

“Excellent. You have created a wonderful form.”

You focused on the voice. It felt familiar, but… you still couldn’t make it out. You would have been nervous if you weren’t thrilled. It was almost stupid just how desperately you latched onto the idea that your life might not have to go back to being normal.

“Now, let us shape its mind as your own. What is its favorite food?”

...That was a strange question. And the answers provided were even stranger.

“Your favorite blood type?”

...What? Some of these weren’t even blood types. That you knew of, anyway. And where was O?

“What color does it like most?”

Once again, these options were pretty limited. You picked one, too excited to try and figure out what was going on.

“Please give it a gift.”

This felt important. You looked closely at the choices, picking the one you thought best.

“How do you feel about your creation? (It will not hear.)”

Now you were starting to feel a little anxious. You hesitated for a moment before answering.

“Have you answered honestly?”

You said yes almost on reflex. You would think after everything you’d been through you’d be more careful about lying to yourself. Which you hadn’t just now.

“You acknowledge the possibility of pain and seizure.”

That… felt threatening. Threatening enough that you probably should have thought about it longer than you did.

“Understood. Name your vessel.”

The name came naturally, after having heard it used so many times on your adventure. You would have felt naked without it.

“We called it ‘User.’”

“And what about the creator?”

You froze. The last time you’d given out your name it had literally cost you your soul. Maybe you should just come up with a second pseudonym, or just say User again—

...No. Something told you to be honest this time around.

“Excellent. Truly excellent.”

The voice kept saying your real name out loud and it made your skin crawl every time.

“Thank you for your time. Your answers… your wonderful creation…”

You waited in anticipation.

“Will now be discarded.”

You would have blinked if you had eyes. The voice, slow and mysterious, had just gone deadpan. You were back in complete darkness.

“No one can choose who they are in this world. Your… name… is…”

* * *

“KRIS! Kris, if you do not wake up, we will be late for school! I will wait outside for you, alright?”

You blinked your eyes - which you had now - open. You were in a bed. Sunlight was pouring through a window. You were very much awake. And…

_ Toriel  _ had just told you to wake up.

And also called you Kris. But that was besides the point.

You were drawn out of your paralyzed excitement by the sound of snoring next to you. You threw the blanket off the bed to reveal…

“...Sans?!”

The skeleton blinked his eyes open and then startled, scooting away from you and smacking his head against the wall.

“what th— who the hell are you?!”

“It’s me! It’s User!”

Sans blinked. “...u… user?” He sat bolt upright. “y… you’re being serious? i’m usually all about pranks but if this is one it’s in very poor taste—”

“No, it’s really me! It’s User! I’m really here, I promise! Wherever… here is.” You looked around the room, insanely curious.

“i… i can’t believe it. after all this time you really… came back…” You could feel Sans studying you with his eyes and you smiled back at him. For some reason the expression felt unnatural on your face.

“How long has it been for you?” you asked him.

“about a year,” Sans said. It didn’t look like the flow of time was consistent between your world and theirs. Like Feywild rules or something. “you look… different.”

You looked down at yourself - brown pants, a yellow-and-green striped sweater, long brown bangs that you had to brush out of your eyes in order to see - it felt eerily similar to Chara and you immediately shivered. It didn’t feel like a child’s body, but also not quite an adult.

“Yeah… Toriel just came in here and called me Kris, I think. Do you know a Kris?”

“...no?” Sans said. “you mean you don’t know what’s going on?”

“Not a clue,” you said. “I had this weird dream-thing just now where it felt like my soul was outside of my body and then I just woke up here next to you.”

“that’s…” Sans looked around. “...i don’t recognize this place. you said you heard tori?”

“Yeah. This isn’t her surface house?”

“nope. not unless she has a secret room she’s been hiding somewhere.”

“This is so weird. But I mean…” you looked at Sans and pulled him into a tight hug. “I thought I’d never see you again.”

Sans chuckled a little and hugged you back. “...i’ll admit i had my doubts too, but. the kid never stopped believing.”

“You mean Niko? How are they?”

“they’re doing just fine. ...who’s sleeping over there?”

You looked at the other bed and noticed there was indeed some sort of sleeping lump underneath the blanket. You walked over and pulled back the covers.

“Niko!”

“Mmm… five more minutes, mama…” The not-cat was curled up exactly like a cat, blinking open their bright golden eyes. “...Sans? Is something wrong? Who’s this?”

“It’s me! User!”

Niko sat bolt upright as well. “Really? Is it really you?”

“Yeah, it’s me!”

“I knew you’d come back! I knew it I knew it I knew it!” They tackle-hugged you and nearly knocked you over, and you laughed, holding them in your arms tightly. “We all missed you so much!”

“I missed you all too,” you said. “Gosh, you’ve gotten so much bigger!”

“Yeah, I had a growth spurt!” Niko giggled.

“yeah, sure, rub it in,” Sans said, rolling his eyes with a good-natured smile on his face.

“Um…” Niko said, looking around, “Where are we? And why do you look so different?”

“That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” you said.

“Kris? Are you alright up there, dear?” Toriel called from outside the door.

“Coming!” you said. You had no idea what was going on, but you thought it would probably be best to just play along for now. Whatever this was…

You couldn’t be more excited.


	3. A Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You take a survey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From the _ I Want to Stay With You _ route.

“Are you there?”

The words only registered to you slowly; it was difficult to make out the voice. Your head felt fuzzy, like you were dreaming.

“Are we connected?”

You were shocked fully awake by a loud noise and a blaze of red filling your vision. It coalesced into a scarlet heart - you immediately went into defense mode. If your soul was out, that meant someone was attacking you. But… it didn’t feel like you were in a Fight.

“Excellent. Truly excellent. Now… we may begin.”

The soul flashed out of existence in another burst of red, and your vision was instead encompassed by a dim grey haze. You tried to turn your head and look around, but your body didn’t respond. You couldn’t feel anything, in fact. It was like your mind wasn’t attached to anything.

...You knew that feeling too well. Your final fight with Chara. Something felt off.

“First, you must create a vessel.”

Vessel? You were already in a vessel. The avatar you’d made for yourself was the only body you had now. You would have started breathing heavily if you had lungs. None of this felt right.

“Select the head that you prefer.”

Were you dreaming? You had to be dreaming. There was no other explanation. Seeing nothing else to do, you selected a head.

“Select the torso that you prefer.”

Once again, you were given a few options. You chose one, the knot in your stomach growing tighter with every second. This didn’t feel like a dream. You were too lucid. You  _ knew  _ the feeling of being outside your body, and this was it.

“Select the legs that you prefer.”

...The legs all looked the same as far as you could tell. As if the disembodied voice had a sense of humor. This all felt too  _ real.  _ What was going on? Who was speaking? The voice’s name was on the tip of your tongue but it just wouldn’t come to you. You tried to find another option, a way to get out and back to your body, but there was nothing else to do but select a pair of legs.

“This is your body. Do you accept it?”

Your first reflex was to say no, but that amounted to nothing. Getting increasingly scared and frustrated, you said yes.

“Excellent. You have created a wonderful form.”

The voice didn’t sound hostile, just… you didn’t know. You couldn’t tell what was going on and you were beginning to feel the panic cloud your mind.

“Now, let us shape its mind as your own. What is its favorite food?”

...That was a strange question. And some of the answers provided were not exactly pleasant. You were suddenly hyper aware of all the choices you’d been making. Had you accidentally made a body that looked exactly like Chara? Was this Chara speaking? You chose what you believed to be the least Chara-like food, desperately hoping this was just a vivid nightmare and that someone would wake you up soon.

“Your favorite blood type?”

...What? Some of these weren’t even blood types. That you knew of, anyway. And where was O? What was Chara’s blood type? What was the correct answer?

“What color does it like most?”

These options were so limiting. What did they all mean? What were you creating?

“Please give it a gift.”

Oh god. One wrong step and you could obliterate everything with this choice. You tried to scream out for someone to wake you up, but you had no voice.

“How do you feel about your creation? (It will not hear.)”

You were terrified of it. Absolutely, utterly mortified. But you couldn’t actually say that, could you?

“Have you answered honestly?”

You wanted to scream. What did you just lie to? Did it know you were lying? Would it know if you lied again?

“You acknowledge the possibility of pain and seizure.”

This was not okay. None of this was in any way okay.

“Understood. Name your vessel.”

Names. Names had so much power, you’d learned. You entered the one that you’d used as your shield for so long. The one that had come to be you, in a sense.

“We called it ‘User.’”

“And what about the creator?”

You froze. Oh no, no, no, no. The last time you’d given out your name it had literally cost you your soul. Maybe you should just come up with a second pseudonym, or just say User again—

...No. Something told you to be honest this time around. Whatever this thing was, you didn’t want to lie to it. You hoped you hadn’t just sold your soul again.

“Excellent. Truly excellent.”

The voice kept saying your real name out loud and it made your skin crawl every time. You tried to scream again.

“Thank you for your time. Your answers… your wonderful creation…”

You waited in horrible anticipation to learn what monstrosity you’d just unleashed.

“Will now be discarded.”

You would have blinked if you had eyes. The voice, slow and mysterious, had just gone deadpan. You were back in complete darkness.

“No one can choose who they are in this world. Your… name… is…”

* * *

“KRIS! Kris, if you do not wake up, we will be late for school! I will wait outside for you, alright?”

You blinked your eyes - which you had now - open. You were in a bed. Sunlight was pouring through a window. You were very much awake. And…

Toriel had just told you to wake up? And also called you Kris. Maybe this was a dream after all. You didn’t know any Krises.

You gave yourself a moment to come down from the paralyzing anxiety and steadied your breathing. It the quiet, you noticed a sleeping figure beside you snoring gently. You sighed in relief.

“...Sans?” you shook his shoulder.

The skeleton blinked his eyes open and then startled, scooting away from you and smacking his head against the wall.

“what th— who the hell are you?!”

“It’s me! It’s User!”

Sans blinked. “...u… user?” He looked at you, completely confused. “what the hell? why are you… where are we?”

“I have no clue,” you said, looking around as well.

“are we in your world somehow? is this what you actually look like?”

You looked down at yourself - brown pants, a yellow-and-green striped sweater, long brown bangs that you had to brush out of your eyes in order to see - it felt eerily similar to Chara and you immediately shivered. It didn’t feel like a child’s body, but also not quite an adult.

“No, definitely not. About the last bit, I mean. But look at the rug, it has the delta rune on it.” You pointed and Sans nodded. “And I just heard Toriel come in here and tell someone named Kris to wake up. Is this… Kris?” You raised your arms and looked at them.

“...well this definitely isn’t tori’s house,” Sans said. “and i don’t know any krises. do you?”

“Nope,” you said. “I have no idea what the hell is going on. I’m just as confused as you are.”

“...this all feels too weird,” Sans said. “am i the only one getting alternate dimension vibes?”

“...You mean… you think we went to another dimension somehow?”

“it’s as good an explanation as we have right now,” Sans shrugged. “when you were, you know… playing the game? and you were controlling frisk? maybe… you know.” He gestured to you.

“You think this is a player-character? Kris?” You said. “But Undertale doesn’t have a sequel, I wouldn’t have anything to base this off of.” Sans just shrugged at you and you got up, scratching your head. “I mean… it makes sense, though. I just had this weird dream-thing where it felt like I was outside my body again and now here we are.”

You glanced over at the other side of the room to see another sleeping lump in the second bed. You walked over and pulled the blanket aside.

“...Niko?”

“Mmm… five more minutes, mama,” the not-cat said, blinking their big golden eyes open slowly. “...Huh? ...Who are you?”

“It’s me, Niko, it’s User,” you said.

“User? But… why do you look different? And w-where are we?” They sat up and looked around.

“Kris? Are you okay up there?” Toriel called from outside the door.

“I’ll be right there!” you said, glancing between Sans and Niko.

“What’s going on?” Niko asked, looking at you.

“I don’t know,” you said. “But we’re going to figure it out.”

For now, the only thing you could think to do was to play along and be Kris until you could piece together just what exactly was going on.


	4. Off to School

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's your first day of school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From the _ I Have Places to Go _ ending.

“i’ll just trail behind you with the kid, then,” Sans said. “i uh, don’t really feel like explaining any of this to tori. or whoever this lady is.”

“Agreed,” you said, walking towards the front door. You really, really wanted to have a thorough look around the house, but for right now you felt it was important to prevent Toriel from barging back in and wondering what you were doing. “Gah, this is exciting!”

“...i don’t think i’ve ever seen you this pumped up before,” Sans said.

“I know, I just… I didn’t think I’d ever have another adventure like this. I can’t wait to see what’s gonna happen,” you said.

Sans chuckled a little and Niko smiled. “I think I know how User feels,” Niko said. “As much as I missed my mama while I was helping the World Machine, it was kinda hard to go back to my normal life. Not that I’m ungrateful! But… you should get going, User, you’re gonna be late for school!”

“Right,” you said. “Meet up with me as soon as I’m alone, okay?” Sans nodded at you as you walked out to see Toriel tapping her foot impatiently next to a red car.

“Kris! There you are! We might still be able to make it!” she said. You hopped into the passenger seat of the car excitedly. “Kris… It is a beautiful day, is it not?”

“It sure is,” you said, looking out at the bright sunshine and deciding to ignore the associations you’d made with the phrase ‘beautiful day.’ Toriel smiled a little.

“I hope it stays this way when Asriel visits next week,” she continued. You froze.

_ Asriel? _

“But I wonder… after the excitement of university… will he still enjoy coming home to this little town?”

You were too dumbstruck to speak. Asriel was alive and going to a university, the monsters were above ground - what was this place?  _ When  _ was this place? Before the war happened? No, that didn’t make any sense at all. Some sort of true-true pacifist ending that you somehow missed where everything was perfect? An alternate universe?

With all the possibilities buzzing around your skull, you nearly missed Undyne in her police uniform and Sans blinking in and out of existence as he trailed the car from a distance, holding Niko’s hand. Toriel grabbed your hand gently as you exited the car - this body felt a little too old for literal hand-holding but then again this was Toriel - and led you inside the building before giving you a warm hug and pointing you in the direction of a classroom. She walked away in the opposite direction - she was definitely a teacher here - and you immediately strode forward into class without a second thought.

“So does everyone have a—”

Alphys was your schoolteacher. There was a  _ Temmie  _ in that chair. And what appeared to be an older version of the unnamed monster kid. And monsters you had never seen before - a giddy smile crept onto your face and once again your mouth felt a little sore, like you weren’t used to smiling.

“Oh, K-Kris! We thought you weren’t coming today!” Alphys said. All the eyes in the room turned to look at you. “We’re doing group projects this month. Uhhh… so, walk around and find a partner, okay?”

Oh, you were gonna befriend the  _ hell _ out of these people.

Alphys still seemed like the Alphys you knew, which you found comforting. Temmie already had a partner, unfortunately, but you were happy to see Snowy’s sense of humor hadn’t changed and that the monster kid also seemed to be their same chipper self.

Then there were the new faces - Catti, who you were fairly certain was not the Catty you knew from Undertale, and her best friend Jockington; an arrogant bird-monster named Berdly who could contort his face in ways you weren’t sure were anatomically possible; and a very friendly deer-girl that you couldn’t decide if she was related to Gyftrot or not. She seemed to be the only person willing to work with you, so you agreed to create a group of three with her. Besides, she seemed too nice to be left alone with Berdly. Just as Berdly was trying to evict you from the group, the classroom door swung open, slamming against the wall.

“H… Hi, Susie,” Alphys said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Susie was tall enough that her hair nearly brushed the top of the doorway, and broad-shouldered enough that her arms were only an inch or two away from the doorframe. She wore a long, threadbare purple jacket and torn jeans, and had a face reminiscent of a purple dinosaur.

“Am I late?” Susie asked. Her voice was deep and bassy - you could almost feel it vibrate in your chest. This person felt important.

“Oh, n-no! You’re fine! W-We were just, uh… ch-choosing partners for the next group project and um… Susie, you’re with Kris!”

“...Great,” Susie replied, the complete lack of interest in her voice very apparent. It probably should have been a little worrying that Alphys immediately pawned you off on her, but it did nothing but pique your interest. Susie made no move to sit down and you stared at her a little more intensely than you meant to while everyone else averted their gaze and Alphys nervously began class.

What sort of reputation did this girl have that she would have such an effect just by walking in the room?

“Uh… h-has anyone seen the chalk?” Alphys said. “This is the third time it’s gone missing and… y-you all know I can’t start class without some!” No one said anything, but your intense scrutinizing of Susie rewarded you with seeing the corner of her mouth tilt up in the slightest of smirks. “H-How about this… if no one speaks up, e-everyone gets in trouble!”

It was only then that you decided to glance around the room, all the other students shifting nervously in their chairs. Noelle fiddled with one of her pencils, glancing at Susie a few times, before raising her hand quietly.

“Hey, there might be a box in the supply closet,” she said. “Miss Alphys, why don’t Susie and I—”

“G-Good idea, Noelle! Susie, s-since you came in last, why don’t you go get it for me…?” Alphys said. Once again, you were just a little surprised by just how quickly Alphys found a way to get rid of her. You noticed Noelle deflate a little and glanced at her curiously.

“...Whatever,” Susie said, slamming the door behind her. The room stayed silent.

“And, K… Kris? Can you go with her and make sure she… um, actually gets it? And, um, stays out of trouble…? Thanks, Kris! See you later!”

It seemed she was also eager to be rid of you, considering she didn’t even give you a chance to answer. Now a twinge of concern began to creep into your thoughts. Still, your curiosity won out again and you followed Susie into the hallway.

She was still there, a small empty box in one hand and a few sticks of writing chalk in the other. You blinked as she tossed the chalk into her mouth and bit down with a loud  _ crunch. _

“...Kris,” she said, turning to look at you. You froze. “...Didn’t see you there. Hey, you didn’t see anything just now, did you?” Should you be honest and say you did or lie, hoping she was either gullible or would believe you would keep the secret? You opened and closed your mouth, trying to make a decision. “Hmm. You can’t even say?”

Whoops. You took too long. “I-I didn’t see anything,” you said, a little annoyed by the mousiness of the voice you were currently using. It felt like your vocal chords were rusted from lack of use.

“Pfft. Little late for that now, freak. I’m not petty, though.” She walked towards you slowly and you reflexively took a few steps back toward the lockers behind you. “Hey,” she said, setting a heavy hand on your shoulder. “Lemme tell you a secret.” 

You gasped, the wind knocked out of you, as Susie picked you up with one arm by the throat and pinned you against the locker. You suddenly became acutely aware of how fragile this neck was compared to your old avatar. 

“Quiet people piss me off,” she said, at a low growl. You looked down, avoiding eye contact, not daring to challenge her. This was not the badass, over-capable form you’d adventured in last time. Susie could probably snap your neck as easily as she’d snapped those sticks of chalk between her teeth.

“You think just ‘cus you say you didn’t see anything, that I can’t tell  _ exactly  _ what you’re thinking? It’s  _ over! _ I caught Susie eating  _ all  _ the chalk! This was her  _ last  _ chance! Now she’ll  _ finally  _ be expelled!”

You glanced to the side, trying to process all this new information, and saw Sans at the end of the hallway with a hand at the ready. You sighed a little, relieved - you felt about twenty times safer now.

“What? Am I boring you?”

“I’m not gonna tell on you, Susie,” you said, trying to reign in the situation. “It was just some chalk. Let’s just go get another box and go back to class.”

“For a second there I forgot you could talk,” Susie said. “I think that’s the longest sentence that’s ever come out of your mouth. But you still aren’t very bright if you think I’m gonna buy that crap.” She leaned in uncomfortably close to your face and you stayed perfectly still. “Nah - as soon as I drop you, you’re gonna pull the trigger. I mean, who wouldn’t, right? But it seems like a waste to get expelled just for having a snack, so… why don’t I get expelled for some  _ real  _ carnage instead? Kris… how do you feel… about losing your face?”

Your muscles tensed as Susie opened her mouth slowly, revealing a mouthful of long, yellow fangs, preparing to book it as soon as Sans knocked her away—

Your knees hit the floor as she dropped you and you glanced up at her, surprised. “Nah,” she said. “Kris… you’ve got a good mother. It’d be a shame to make her bury her child.”

That last bit made your stomach churn a little. Just who  _ was  _ this girl?

“Alright, let’s get this over with. We’ll get more chalk, mosey back to class, and then… Kris,  _ you’ll  _ do our project. How’s that sound?” You opened your mouth to speak but she immediately cut you off. “Don’t bother answering. If you haven’t gotten it by now - your choices don’t matter.”

You stayed there on the ground, letting the whole conversation sink in, and gave Sans a small nod to let him know you’d handle it. He ducked out of sight as Susie turned around. “Let’s go, freak.”

You got up and walked after her determinedly. One thing you knew was that being afraid of her wasn’t going to change anything. Besides, Sans was here. She wouldn’t be able to hurt you even if she wanted to.

A sudden chill came over you as you followed Susie quietly; an offness in the air. It felt familiar somehow, and less than pleasant. “Well, here’s the closet. Too bad. We were just starting to have fun,” Susie said. You clenched your jaw as she threw open the closet door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew! I have been figuring out college stuff, rewatching and replaying Deltarune so it's fresh in my mind, and outlining chapters for this fic the past month or so. Good news is that I have my outline done, so I have a solid framework to work with now! I will try and update as frequently as I can, but I do have to update two chapters at once (though tbh I reuse a significant amount of material between chapters so...). Thank you in advance for your patience.


	5. Mirrored Faces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You see some familiar and unfamiliar faces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From the _ I Want to Stay With You _ ending.

“i’ll just trail behind you with the kid, then,” Sans said. “stay under the radar until we learn a little more about what’s going on.”

“Right,” you said, walking towards the front door. You glanced around at everything your eyes could find as you went, trying to memorize any detail that might have the slightest significance.

“...are you okay?” Sans asked.

“I’m fine. Just… better safe than sorry, you know?” you said.

“This place doesn’t seem so bad,” Niko said. “It feels like somewhere Miss Toriel would live, even if this isn’t really her house.”

“Still,” you said. “We don’t know this place, its a bad idea to take anything for granted. Meet up with me as soon as I’m alone, okay?” Sans nodded at you as you walked out to see Toriel tapping her foot impatiently next to a red car.

“Kris! There you are! We might still be able to make it!” she said. You climbed into the passenger seat. “Kris… It is a beautiful day, is it not?”

“...It sure is,” you said, cautiously. That sentence held too many bad memories to be accidental. Your felt your nails digging into your palms a little.

“I hope it stays this way when Asriel visits next week,” Toriel continued. You froze.

_ Asriel? _

“But I wonder… after the excitement of university… will he still enjoy coming home to this little town?”

You were too dumbstruck to speak. Asriel was alive and going to a university, the monsters were above ground - what was this place?  _ When  _ was this place? Before the war happened? No, that didn’t make any sense at all. Some sort of true-true pacifist ending that you somehow missed where everything was perfect? An alternate universe?

So wrapped up in your own thoughts, you nearly missed Undyne in her police uniform and Sans blinking in and out of existence as he trailed the car from a distance, holding Niko’s hand. Toriel grabbed your hand gently as you exited the car - this body felt a little too old for literal hand-holding but then again this was Toriel - and led you inside the building before giving you a quick hug and pointing you in the direction of a classroom. She walked away in the opposite direction - she must be a teacher here, you thought - and you walked into class.

“So does everyone have a—”

...Alphys was your schoolteacher. You saw a Temmie wearing a backwards hat, older versions of the nameless monster kid and Snowdrake, a monster that looked similar to Catty but more… goth, and three others you didn’t recognize. You immediately set upon memorizing their faces.

“Oh, K-Kris! We thought you weren’t coming today!” Alphys said. All the eyes in the room turned to look at you. “We’re doing group projects this month. Uhhh… so, walk around and find a partner, okay?”

You eyed them all suspiciously, trying to gauge if any of them weren’t what they appeared to me.

Like Toriel, Alphys’ personality seemed effectively the same, as did Snowdrake and the monster kid. Temmie had already partnered with an egg (did that mean it was that specific Temmie and not, say, the Tem Shopkeeper?).

Then there were the new faces - Catti, who you were fairly certain was not the Catty you knew from Undertale judging by her personality, and her friend Jockington; an arrogant bird-monster named Berdly who could contort his face in ways you weren’t sure were anatomically possible; and a seemingly pleasant deer-girl that you couldn’t decide if she was related to Gyftrot or not. She seemed to be the only person willing to work with you, so you agreed to create a group of three with her. Berdly immediately attempted to evict you from the group, but the conversation was derailed by the door swinging open and slamming against the wall. You took a battle stance.

“H… Hi, Susie,” Alphys said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Susie was tall enough that her hair nearly brushed the top of the doorway, and broad-shouldered enough that her arms were only an inch or two away from the doorframe. She wore a long, threadbare purple jacket and torn jeans, and had a face reminiscent of a purple dinosaur.

“Am I late?” Susie asked. Her voice was deep and bassy - you could almost feel it vibrate in your chest. This person felt important.

“Oh, n-no! You’re fine! W-We were just, uh… ch-choosing partners for the next group project and um… Susie, you’re with Kris!”

“...Great,” Susie replied, her voice betraying her displeasure. You were very quick to pick up on the fact that Alphys seemed perfectly content to pawn you off on this evidently frightening person. Susie made no move to sit down and you stared at her intensely as everyone else averted their gaze and Alphys nervously began class.

What sort of reputation did this girl have that she would have such an effect just by walking in the room? Who - or what - was she?

“Uh… h-has anyone seen the chalk?” Alphys said. “This is the third time it’s gone missing and… y-you all know I can’t start class without some!” No one said anything, but your intense scrutinizing of Susie let you see the corner of her mouth tilt up in the slightest of smirks. “H-How about this… if no one speaks up, e-everyone gets in trouble!”

You took a quick glance around the rest of the room to see all the other students shifting nervously in their chairs. Noelle fiddled with one of her pencils, glancing at Susie a few times, before raising her hand quietly.

“Hey, there might be a box in the supply closet,” she said. “Miss Alphys, why don’t Susie and I—”

“G-Good idea, Noelle! Susie, s-since you came in last, why don’t you go get it for me…?” Alphys said. The fact that Alphys seemed so eager to be rid of Susie didn’t make you any more comfortable.

“...Whatever,” Susie said, slamming the door behind her. The room stayed silent.

“And, K… Kris? Can you go with her and make sure she… um, actually gets it? And, um, stays out of trouble…? Thanks, Kris! See you later!”

It seemed she was also eager to be rid of you, considering she didn’t even give you a chance to answer. A steady stream of dread began to sink into your bones. You followed Susie out into the hallway, muscles taut and ready for a fight.

She was still there, a small empty box in one hand and a few sticks of writing chalk in the other. You blinked as she tossed the chalk into her mouth and bit down with a loud  _ crunch. _

“...Kris,” she said, turning to look at you. You clenched your fists a little. “...Didn’t see you there. Hey, you didn’t see anything just now, did you?” Should you be honest and say you did or lie, hoping she was either gullible or would believe you would keep the secret? You remained motionless, trying to make a decision. “Hmm. You can’t even say?”

Dammit. “I didn’t see anything,” you said, a little annoyed by the mousiness of the voice you were currently using. It felt like your vocal chords were rusted from lack of use.

“Pfft. Little late for that now, freak. I’m not petty, though.” She walked towards you slowly and you backed toward the lockers behind you. “Hey,” she said, setting a heavy hand on your shoulder. You looked her straight in the eyes - or, at least, as straight as you could manage considering how long both your bangs were. “Lemme tell you a secret.” 

You gasped, the wind knocked out of you, as Susie picked you up with one arm by the throat and pinned you against the locker. You suddenly became acutely aware of how fragile this neck was compared to your own avatar and decided not to move a muscle lest she snap you in half. 

“Quiet people piss me off,” she said, at a low growl. You still glared at her through your bangs under the assumption she wouldn’t really be able to see you doing so. “You think just ‘cus you say you didn’t see anything, that I can’t tell  _ exactly  _ what you’re thinking? It’s  _ over! _ I caught Susie eating  _ all  _ the chalk! This was her  _ last  _ chance! Now she’ll  _ finally  _ be expelled!”

You glanced past her, trying to process all this new information, and saw Sans at the end of the hallway with a hand at the ready. You looked back at her, more confident now - this was all still too unfamiliar for you to feel safe, but knowing Sans had your back was a comfort at least.

“You can eat all the chalk you want, Susie. It makes no difference to me,” you said, forcing the words out past the fingers clamped around your airways.

“For a second there I forgot you could talk,” Susie said. “I think that’s the longest sentence that’s ever come out of your mouth. But you still aren’t very bright if you think I’m gonna buy that crap.” She leaned in uncomfortably close to your face and you stayed perfectly still. “Nah - as soon as I drop you, you’re gonna pull the trigger. I mean, who wouldn’t, right? But it seems like a waste to get expelled just for having a snack, so… why don’t I get expelled for some  _ real  _ carnage instead? Kris… how do you feel… about losing your face?”

Your muscles tensed as Susie opened her mouth slowly, revealing a mouthful of long, yellow fangs, preparing to book it as soon as Sans knocked her away—

Your knees hit the floor as she dropped you and you glanced up at her, surprised. “Nah,” she said. “Kris… you’ve got a good mother. It’d be a shame to make her bury her child.”

That last bit made your stomach churn a little. Just who  _ was  _ this girl?

“Alright, let’s get this over with. We’ll get more chalk, mosey back to class, and then… Kris,  _ you’ll  _ do our project. How’s that sound?” You opened your mouth to speak but she immediately cut you off. “Don’t bother answering. If you haven’t gotten it by now - your choices don’t matter.”

You stayed there on the ground, letting the whole conversation sink in, and gave Sans a small nod to let him know you’d handle it. He ducked out of sight as Susie turned around. “Let’s go, freak.”

You got up and walked after her determinedly. Whoever Susie was, you got the feeling that she was important to whatever was going on. You figured it was best to keep a close eye on her, for better or worse.

A sudden chill came over you as you followed Susie quietly; an offness in the air. It felt familiar somehow, and less than pleasant. “Well, here’s the closet. Too bad. We were just starting to have fun,” Susie said. You clenched your jaw as she threw open the closet door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew! I have been figuring out college stuff, rewatching and replaying Deltarune so it's fresh in my mind, and outlining chapters for this fic the past month or so. Good news is that I have my outline done, so I have a solid framework to work with now! I will try and update as frequently as I can, but I do have to update two chapters at once (though tbh I reuse a significant amount of material between chapters so...). Thank you in advance for your patience.


	6. Adventure: Start!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You explore a dark place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From the _ I Have Places to Go _ ending.

The room dimmed around you as the doors slammed open roughly. You glanced at the nearby windows, thinking a cloud must have covered the sun, but it was still bright outside - the air itself flowing from the closet seemed to be saturated with darkness. You were fairly certain the temperature dropped a couple of degrees.

“Hey, Kris, is it me, or… is it  _ really  _ dark in there?” Susie asked.

“...It’s not just you,” you said. It was unnerving but… also fascinating. Exhilarating, almost. You had no idea what this could be.

“...Well are you going in or what?” Susie asked.

“Sure,” you said. Susie looked mildly surprised as you walked forward into the darkness, your shoes crunching on loose sheets of paper. You felt around for a lightswitch, but your fingers found nothing but empty air.

“Kris, just turn the light on,” Susie said.

“I can’t find it,” you said, becoming more and more curious by the second. Just what was this room? What did it do?

“Oh my god, you’re useless,” Susie said. She walked inside and shoved past you, searching for the switch herself. “Who designed this closet, anyway?”

“...Someone who likes a lot of closet space,” you said. This closet was huge, if how far you’d already walked in was any indication.

“Or maybe they just didn’t like walls,” Susie said. “I uh… think this thing’s broken. Let’s get out of here. If Alphys wants chalk she can get it herself.” You turned around to see Sans in the closet with Niko behind him, and Susie stopped. “Who the hell are you?”

“...just a friend of kris. and the dino’s right, something doesn’t feel right about—”

You were left in complete darkness as the doors closed by themselves. Your sense of dread finally starting to catch up, you walked towards where Niko had been.

“Hey! Open the doors back up, freaks!” Susie said.

“We didn’t close it!” Niko said. You walked towards the sound of their voice and stumbled as you realized the ground was vibrating beneath your feet. “W-What’s going onAAHH!”

“Niko!” You started running, only to tumble headfirst over some kind of cliff, floor tiles in free fall around you. You fell. And fell.

* * *

Everything ached. Luckily (or unluckily), you were pretty used to that feeling by now after your massive accident. You were afraid to open your eyes though, afraid you might wake back up in your hospital bed and that this had all just been some cruel dream.

The ground was too hard to be a bed, you realized, so you did eventually open your eyes. It was still dark, but this felt more like a lack of light than an excess of darkness. The first thing your eyes focused on was your arm - your skin had turned blue. You blinked a little and stood up, looking over yourself.

You were in metal body armor now; you had a hot pink shoulder-cape and a sword attached to your belt. You grinned excitedly.

_ This  _ was more like it.

You shrugged off the fall, walking along the only path you could see and looking around. Something caught your eye - a glimmer of silver on the ground. On closer inspection, it reminded you of a save point. You reached out for it, and it flickered as it touched your fingers. For a brief second, you blacked out, and a stream of zeros and ones crossed your mind’s eye.

01000110 01101001 01101100 01100101 01011111 01001110 01100001 01101101

01100101 00111010 00100000 01010011 01110101 01100010 01101010 01100101 

01100011 01110100 01011111 00110001 00001101 00001010 01001100 01100101 

01110110 01100101 01101100 00111010 00100000 00110001 00001101 00001010 

01010010 01110101 01101110 01110100 01101001 01101101 01100101 00111010 

00100000 00110011 00111001 01101000 01110010 00001101 00001010 01001100 

01101111 01100011 01100001 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 00111010 

00100000 00111111 00111111 00111111 00111111 00111111 00111111

You stumbled backward, disoriented. You stood there for a moment, waiting for your vision to stop blurring and the sudden headache that had come over you to fade. You had a strong feeling that you’d just Saved - you couldn’t explain where the feeling came from, but it was there - and also that you’d just seen something you weren’t supposed to see. For the first time since you woke up in whatever this world was, you began to question if you were in over your head.

Regardless, Sans, Niko, and Susie had all been in that closet with you and were presumably down here somewhere. You needed to find them as soon as possible, and yet… You were still entranced by this place. You wanted to discover every little detail and secret.

You passed a few dancing white things that you couldn’t reach safely. Eventually you found a section of the path with walls rather than a seemingly bottomless abyss to either side, and found those walls filled with strange holes. Some of them were oozing some strange black substance, and for some reason it made you acutely uncomfortable. It seemed to suck the heat out of your body just by being close to it. Something about it felt almost familiar too, and it added to the low churning in your stomach. You wondered if this was what Sans felt like whenever déjà vu hit him. Now that you were taking the time to take everything in, this place was… really creepy.

There were eyes carved into the walls, you noticed. And strange, breathing… piles. They looked like they were composed of thick white spores and thin strands of fungus. You saw something glimmering in one of the wall-holes and walked over to take a closer look, despite your discomfort and being close to the strange black goop. It wasn’t a save point, it was definitely an object. It seemed to be glowing with its own light.

You reached your hand towards it gingerly and then stopped. You really,  _ really _ wanted to know what this thing was, but that damn ooze was making you violently nauseous. There was just something  _ wrong _ about it. You pulled your hand away and went in a different direction. You could afford to miss  _ one _ secret, right?

Your new path had something similar to the white dancy things, but black and red. They launched what you immediately recognized as magic bullets at you as soon as you passed, and you felt your soul pulse in your chest, light bleeding through your skin and out into the room. They weren’t difficult to dodge, but it still startled you for a moment. It didn’t feel like you’d been pulled into a Fight, but your soul felt exposed at the same time. It was a strange sensation to say the least.

Now that you had become more attentive to the possible danger of your surroundings, you immediately noticed the silhouette hiding behind one of the fungus-piles. It ran behind another one as you approached, and you put your hand on the hilt of your sword, crouching as you continued moving forward. The last pile it hid behind blocked the path forward, so you reached out with your sword cautiously and touched the mass of white.

It exploded into a cloud of spores and musty odor to reveal Susie - she had also changed, her skin a brighter shade of magenta, wearing a jacket with the sleeves torn off and spiked metal bracelets. She backed away from you, eyes wide.

“H-Hey! B… Back off! Come any closer and I’ll—”

“Susie, it’s me,” you said, putting your hands up in a non-threatening gesture.

“Don’t scare me like that, dumbass!” Susie shouted. You winced a little at her volume.

“Sorry. I guess we were both a little on edge,” you said.

“No kidding. Do you have any idea what the hell this place is?”

“Not a clue,” you said.

“Well stop screwing around and help me find a way out of here, then,” Susie said, brushing spores off her arms and turning around to continue down the path.

“Have you seen Sans or Niko?” you asked.

“Who and who?”

“The skeleton and the cat that came into the closet after us,” you said.

“Haven’t seen them, not gonna look for them. If you wanna play hide and seek, be my guest. I’m not sticking around.” She marched ahead quicker than you thought the heavy-set monster would be able to.

“Susie hold— ugh.” You sighed to yourself and followed her at your own pace. This girl was going to be a tough nut to crack. 

It didn’t take too long to catch up with her - she’d stopped and was looking up at something. She glanced back at you.

“That one of yours?” she asked, nodding towards a figure standing on a ledge some ways above you. You squinted, trying to make out the details.

“Sans?” you called out. The silhouette looked roughly his size and shape. And it seemed to be waving at you, which was probably a good sign. Then the figure raised its arm, and a pair of spade-shaped bullets flew at the ground between you and Susie. You backed away a few paces and shared a glance with her.

Definitely not Sans.

You ran as a rain of spade-bullets came down towards you, and you felt your soul expose itself again. It was a little harder to dodge than you remembered being in your old avatar, but some of your reflexes and muscle memory seemed to remain. It took a few moments, but you eventually got into a rhythm, the familiar sensation of adrenaline pumping under you skin bringing back your excitement a little. Maybe you were a little too excited to be in mortal danger again, but it was too much of a rush compared to the long, dragging days in that hospital. You jumped onto a slope and slid down at an increasingly rapid pace, dodging bullets as you went, and a smile crept onto your face.

You had to admit - it was good to be back.


	7. Falling Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You fall into the darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From the _ I Want to Stay With You _ ending.

The room dimmed around you as the doors slammed open roughly. You glanced at the nearby windows, hoping a cloud must have covered the sun, but it was still bright outside - the air itself flowing from the closet seemed to be saturated with darkness. You were fairly certain the temperature dropped a couple of degrees.

“Hey, Kris, is it me, or… is it  _ really  _ dark in there?” Susie asked.

“...It’s not just you,” you said. It was incredibly unnerving, and far too familiar. It was on the tip of your tongue, but whatever memory you were searching for eluded you.

“...Well are you going in or what?” Susie asked.

You didn’t say anything, staring into whatever abyss was masquerading as a supply closet. You did  _ not _ want to have anything to do with that door.

“Fine! If you’re scared, then I’ll…” Susie’s voice trailed off, and it was at least a little comforting that you weren’t the only one disturbed by the situation. “We’ll both go in at the same time!”

You felt her hand on your back, forcing you forward. You clenched your fists a little, but marched forward anyway. As soon as your crossed the threshold of the doorway your sense of dread multiplied tenfold.

“Don’t just stand there, help me find a lightswitch,” Susie said. You followed her slowly, every step making your skin crawl. There wouldn’t be a lightswitch in here, you were almost certain. Even if there was it wouldn’t be able to pierce this artificial darkness.

“...Just how long is this closet, anyway?” Susie asked. Too long, you thought. Far too long. It reminded you of…

_ Running endlessly. No sound, no sight, nothing, just running blindly with the monster kid in your arms, panic rising in your chest because Undyne was g o n e — _

The void. That’s what this place was, you realized, it was a part of the void. “Susie we need to leave,” you said, too scared to bother hiding the panic in your voice.

“You don’t have to be such a wuss about it,” Susie said, “but yeah, let’s split. Alphys can get her own damn chalk.”

You spun on your heel to see Sans and Niko also in the closet and your dread spiked.

“What are you doing in here?!”

“we thought you might need backu—”

Sans was cut off by the sound of the closet door slamming shut, and you immediately sprinted toward Sans and Niko. The ground shook beneath your feet and you tripped, skidding across the papers strewn about the floor and off some sort of ledge. You fell. And fell.

* * *

Everything ached. It had been a while since you’d felt like this; not since you’d fought Chara and robots and been generally tossed about like a ragdoll. Your first fear was that you’d been erased, that you were trapped in the void somewhere, but you felt solid ground beneath you. The abyss that erased things went to didn’t have ground, as far as Alphys’ and Undyne’s accounts told you.

Still a little apprehensive, you dared to open your eyes. It was still dark, but this felt more like a lack of light than an excess of darkness. The first thing your eyes focused on was your hand - your skin had turned blue. You blinked a little and stood up, looking over yourself.

You were in metal body armor now; you had a hot pink shoulder-cape and a sword attached to your belt. It felt a little closer to the body you’d gotten used to - better defended, at least. You were still tense, but the malcontent you’d felt in the air before had faded.

You dusted yourself off and walked cautiously along the only path you could see. Something immediately caught your eye - a glimmer of silver on the ground. On closer inspection, it reminded you of a save point. You hesitated for a moment and then reached out for it; it flickered as it touched your fingers. For a brief second, you blacked out, and a stream of zeros and ones crossed your mind’s eye.

01000110 01101001 01101100 01100101 01011111 01001110 01100001 01101101 

01100101 00111010 00100000 01010000 01110010 01100101 01101100 01101001 

01101101 01101001 01101110 01100001 01110010 01111001 01011111 01010100 

01100101 01110011 01110100 00001010 01001100 01100101 01110110 01100101 

01101100 00111010 00100000 00110001 00001010 01010010 01110101 01101110 

01110100 01101001 01101101 01100101 00111010 00100000 00110011 00111001 

01101000 01110010 00001010 01001100 01101111 01100011 01100001 01110100 

01101001 01101111 01101110 00111010 00100000 00111111 00111111 00111111 

00111111 00111111 00111111

You fell backward, disoriented, and scrambled away from the silver star. You laid there for a moment, waiting for your vision to stop blurring and the sudden headache that had come over you to fade. You had a strong feeling that you’d just Saved - you couldn’t explain where the feeling came from, but it was there - and also that you’d just seen something you weren’t supposed to see. It felt like you were in someone else’s game. It reminded you too much of Chara - always two steps ahead, impossible to truly beat because they knew your every thought—

You shook the memories from your head. Sans and Niko had been in that closet with you and were presumably down here somewhere. You needed to find them before something else did. You got to your feet quickly and started speedwalking forward.

You were too focused on finding Sans and Niko to notice much except in passing - there were weird dancing white things and holes in the wall dripping black ooze. You kept as far away from that stuff as possible - for some reason it made you acutely uncomfortable. It seemed to suck the heat out of your body just by being close to it. It almost felt like—

_ Liquid fingers seeping through your skin, frozen, unable to move— _

You knew Gaster was behind this. You’d stupidly forgotten about whatever toll you owed him and now Sans and Niko had gotten dragged into it. The worst part was that you didn’t even know what he wanted.

You passed eyes carved into the walls and strange, breathing… piles. They looked like they were composed of thick white spores and thin strands of fungus. You reached a dead end after taking a fork in the road and caught sight of something glimmering in one of the wall-holes. It wasn’t a save point, it was definitely an object. It seemed to be glowing with its own light.

You reached your hand towards it slowly and then stopped. Whatever it was was sitting in that cold, dark Gaster-ooze. There was something so very  _ wrong _ about it, but… could you afford not to take this thing? You didn’t know what it was, but surely it was here for a reason. Ever so carefully, you reached your hand inside the hole and plucked the object out. It was a glowing crystal of some sort.

Nothing sinister seemed to happen, so you pocketed the crystal and turned back. You could worry about what it was once you found your friends.

You rushed along your new path before skidding to a halt as your soul flared in your chest, glowing through your skin. You looked around frantically for an assailant and stumbled as a bullet passed right through you. You felt the magic cause dissonance in your soul, disorienting you for a second.

...This didn’t feel like a Fight. You walked forward much more cautiously, sidestepping as a few more bullets came at you. This was new. You passed through the area and hoped down a short slope, making mental notes for later.

Now that you had become more attentive to the possible danger of your surroundings, you immediately noticed the silhouette hiding behind one of the fungus-piles. It ran behind another one as you approached and you drew your sword, crouching as you continued moving forward. The last pile it hid behind blocked the path forward, so you reached out with your blade cautiously and touched the mass of white.

It exploded into a cloud of spores and musty odor to reveal Susie - she had also changed, her skin a brighter shade of magenta, wearing a jacket with the sleeves torn off and spiked metal bracelets. She backed away from you, eyes wide.

“H-Hey! B… Back off! Come any closer and I’ll—”

“God, it’s just you,” you said, exhaling.

“Don’t scare me like that, dumbass!” Susie shouted. You winced a little at her volume.

“Sorry. I’m… a little on edge right now,” you said.

“No kidding. Do you have any idea what the hell this place is?”

“Does it look like I do?” you said.

“Well stop screwing around and help me find a way out of here, then,” Susie said, brushing spores off her arms and turning around to continue down the path.

“Have you seen Sans or Niko?” you asked.

“Who and who?”

“The skeleton and the cat that came into the closet after us,” you said.

“Haven’t seen them, not gonna look for them. If you wanna play hide and seek, be my guest. I’m not sticking around.” She marched ahead quicker than you thought the heavy-set monster would be able to.

“Susie hold— ugh.” You sighed to yourself and rushed after her. This girl was not going to make your life any easier. 

It didn’t take too long to catch up with her - she’d stopped and was looking up at something. She glanced back at you.

“That one of yours?” she asked, nodding towards a figure standing on a ledge some ways above you. You squinted, trying to make out the details.

“Sans?” you called out. The silhouette looked roughly his size and shape. And it seemed to be waving at you, which you hoped was a good sign. Then the figure raised its arm, and a pair of spade-shaped bullets flew at the ground between you and Susie. You backed away a few paces and shared a glance with her.

Definitely not Sans.

You ran as a rain of spade-bullets came down towards you, and you felt your soul expose itself again. Luckily for you, your skills were still sharp and your muscle memory served you well. In just a few seconds you got into a rhythm, the familiar sensation of adrenaline pumping under you skin giving you tunnel vision. Mortal danger really didn’t faze you anymore - you had to get out of here and find Sans and Niko. Nothing else mattered right now. You jumped onto a slope and slid down at an increasingly rapid pace, dodging bullets as you went, tucking your arms in to go even faster.

As they say - no rest for the wicked.


	8. Compulsory Affection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You meet a certain fluffy boy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From the _ I Have Places to Go _ ending.

You stood up shakily, brushing dust off your knees. You’d impacted with the ground at the bottom of the slope pretty hard, but luckily it didn’t seem like you’d sustained any lasting injuries and your assailant was nowhere to be found. It was strangely… comforting, being thrown around like a ragdoll again. Last time you were here you’d been in constant stress-mode and never really got to experience the adventure of it all. This was different. Exciting. If a few bumps and bruises were all you had to pay, you were 100 percent down.

Susie had beaten you down the slope and was waiting ahead, so you walked up to her. She didn’t acknowledge you, staring off into what appeared to be a town. Glancing at it yourself, you couldn’t really blame her.

The buildings were all pure black in color, backlit by some dim blue glow that seemed to permeate the area somehow. Teal light poured from many of the windows, and shone from some points in the distance. You couldn’t decide if they were stars or crystals on the roof of a cavern. The buildings themselves arced in gravity-defying ways, stretching overhead as if to shade the street from some non-existent sun.

“Well… maybe there’s someone friendly in this town that could help us?” you suggested, glancing at Susie.

“Yeah, I’m sure they won’t attack us like that last one,” she said, voice dripping with unnecessary sarcasm.

“Well if you know a way out of here or where my friends are, I’d be happy to follow you,” you said.

Susie just sighed loudly and gestured toward the town before crossing her arms. You walked in, looking around and smiling. You wondered what this place was called. You tried to open one of the doors, but it was locked - looking around your immediate vicinity a lot of them seemed to be RPG-esque shops. Other than the lights there wasn’t any sign of life here, though. You walked further into the city to find some circular town square, the tops of the buildings all curling in towards the center like the points of spears.

In the distance, on the opposite side of the square, was a castle at the bottom of a path of descending steps - from its roof poured what could only be described as a geyser of shadow, erupting up into the lightless sky with which it almost seemed to merge impossibly high above your head. Whatever the substance was, it was fluid; it dimmed the stars or crystals or whatever they were around it.

“I… think that’s where we’re probably supposed to go,” you said, glancing back at Susie.

“Yeah, sure, let’s head  _ towards _ the giant death fountain,” Susie said, crossing her arms. You sighed a little, starting to get the tiniest bit annoyed. You didn’t really want to play this card but you also wanted to get a move on.

“If you’re scared I get it. I’ll go check it out myself.” You started walking toward the castle.

“I am not  _ scared,” _ Susie growled. She shoved you out of the way with her shoulder and you stumbled as you tried to keep your footing. “Try to keep up, freak.”

That was even easier than you thought it would be.

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Niko opened their eyes slowly, their vision blocked by black leaves. They wriggled around a little bit before realizing their limbs were entangled with the limbs of some kind of tree.

“Hello?” They called out. No one answered.

Niko winced a little as they pulled themself out of the awkward position they were in. This must be where they landed after they fell, they realized. They felt a little sore, but other than that they felt fine. Pretty lucky, all things considered.

Niko took a look around at the mysterious black tree they were lodged in and saw it was filled with some strange, red-and-black fruits shaped like stars. Their stomach immediately growled.

“Well… I guess taking one wouldn’t hurt,” Niko said to themself. “Who knows the next time I’ll be able to get a snack. I really need to find Sans and User as soon as I can, anyway.”

They plucked one of the star-fruits off a branch and took a bite. It was crisp and had a crunch to it, almost like a chocolate shell. And it tasted almost like…

“Marshmallows!” Niko giggled a little and climbed down from the tree before taking another bite of the candy-fruit or whatever it was. Well, at least whatever place they’d fallen into didn’t seem so bad. They looked around before heading to the right.

It looked like they were in store for another adventure!

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“Umm… I suppose it’s just the two of us then,” Ralsei said, looking down at the ground sheepishly.

“I suppose so,” you answered, watching Susie march away. You looked back at your new companion and put on a smile. There wasn’t anything to be done about Susie for the moment, so there was no use moping over it.

“Kris… I’m a prince, but…” Ralsei looked up from his toes and towards you, “I, um, currently don’t have any subjects. I’ve been waiting alone here… um, my whole life for you two to arrive. So… I’m really happy to meet you. I hope we can be good friends, Kris.”

...His whole life? Your smile wavered a little. Where were his parents? Just what kind of place was this?

“I’m sure we will be,” you said, stopping yourself from getting weepy and emotional at how tragically innocent this poor fluffy goat-like boy’s eyes were. ...Something felt familiar at that particular description but you couldn’t put your finger on it.

“For now, though, we should try to catch up to Susie. She should be to the southeast,” Ralsei said.

“Right. Just follow me,” you said, your protective instincts kicking in. You were not going to allow anything to happen to this precious little creature. This… this was the start of a real  _ adventure, _ not the panicked mess of a nightmare your last excursion here had been. Sure, you were still worried about Sans and Niko, but they had to be somewhere down here anyway. You’d catch up to them eventually, you were sure of it. For now, all you could do was progress.

“Oh, Kris! It’s the training dummy I made!” Ralsei said, his eyes immediately lighting up. You looked over at the extremely Ralsei-like dummy set in a nearby courtyard and almost audibly awwed. “Now seems like a great chance to prepare for the enemy.”

You’d already gotten a taste of the combat system when you’d fought Lancer, but you sure as heck weren’t going to turn down…

Wait. Had you? You’d fought someone named Lancer, right? The blue-and-white character with the spade motif. You  _ remembered  _ doing it - now that you thought about it, he’d been pretty funny - but why did it feel like you hadn’t? In fact, it was hard to recall where you heard Ralsei’s name from.

“Um… Kris?”

You didn’t respond for a few moments, forgetting you were supposed to answer to “Kris” now. “Oh! Uh, sorry. I just got, um… lost in thought. What were you saying?”

“I was asking if you’d like me to teach you how to fight,” Ralsei said.

“Oh, I’d love that,” you said, smiling and putting your weird not-quite-a-memory-gap out of your thoughts for the time being. The last thing you wanted to do was worry Ralsei.

You felt your soul pull away from your chest, and it was as if you were in two places at once, one half your consciousness tied to Kris’ body and the other floating out between Kris and the dummy. It was a little trippy and disorienting, even after traveling between worlds as just your soul. 

Still, you listened intently to Ralsei’s explanation of battle mechanics. It seemed halfway between that of Undertale and a more traditional RPG. What you found most interesting is that you had to dodge for your party members.

“First, I’ll teach you how to Fight,” Ralsei said. “Though Fighting is unnecessary in this world, there’s no harm in a thorough lesson!”

...Alright. You’d humor Ralsei this once. You definitely weren’t going to fight anyone, but this was just a dummy. One Ralsei had expressly made for this purpose. You didn’t see an actual menu anywhere, but with a bit of concentration you felt your body raise its arm for a strike.

“W-wow, Kris! That was an amazing attack! Have you done this before or something?”

You froze. There was something to the lilt in his voice, something… accusatory? Snide? That voice sounded so similar to someone else’s now that you thought about it, but you couldn’t figure out who. Oh god. Was this Chara? Was this all some elaborate scheme they’d concocted to get you to kill everyone? Did they—

“Kris? Kris!”

You looked back at Ralsei, knuckles white as they gripped the sword handle. You were shaking.

“Kris, are you sure you’re okay?” Ralsei said. There wasn’t anything malicious in those eyes, just genuine concern. You took a few deep breaths.

“I-I’m fine,” you said. “I just uh… I think I pulled something. It’s not that bad, though, I’ll be okay.” You were just being paranoid. Ralsei wasn’t secretly some genocidal maniac, you were just letting your own fears get the best of you again. You just… needed to calm down.

“Oh! In that case, we can use my Heal Prayer spell!” Ralsei said. “But first we’ll have to gather more TP. You can do that by Defending! Why don’t you try it?”

You nodded, getting back into a rhythm. You really didn’t know where that sudden outburst came from. Eventually the time came around to Act after Ralsei explained spell mechanics, and he asked you to hug the dummy - which of course you were going to do - except that when you concentrated on your body, you felt there was another option you could do. You grinned internally as you walked over and wrapped Ralsei in a tight bear hug. 

Stars, this boy was  _ so fluffy. _

“K… Kris!? Um, I don’t think, um… this is what you’re supposed to be doing. But…”

You could see a red glow on Ralsei’s black fur as you pulled away and smiled giddily. What on earth had you been worried about? You hugged him again.

“Kris…? Are you trying to, um… ask me to give you a tutorial on hugging…?”

“Yes!” You said, probably a little too enthusiastically. Ralsei just stood there, embarrassed, and fiddled with his scarf as you went in for a third hug.

“Umm… I’ve never hugged anyone before. Besides the dummy, to test it out.” Ralsei muttered the last part to himself but you still heard it. You felt your heart breaking at the unjustness of the universe and hugged him a little tighter. If you ever found out who left him here alone all this time you were going to have a very, very,  _ very _ long talk with them.

“I suppose you’re the one teaching me, haha!” Ralsei said, trying to laugh off his embarrassment. You pulled away, composing yourself a little.

“Well… you can have one from me whenever you want one, Ralsei,” you said, smiling at him as you tried to keep a pleasant smile on your face. If  _ anything _ ever happened to this precious boy…

“Aw, thank you, Kris! But, um, I think we should finish the tutorial now so we can catch up to Susie.”

“...Right.”

Well. This was certainly a start.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> <strike> Ahaha it's been two months wow </strike>  
Sorry for the long wait on these! I, like a fool, thought I would have a lot of time to write over winter break and, to the surprise of absolutely no one, I ended up being extremely busy. So. Buuuuuut chapters are here now, right?
> 
> Also, if anyone would like a 'hint': https://www.rapidtables.com/convert/number/binary-to-ascii.html


	9. Static

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You meet a certain spade.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From the _ I Want to Stay With You _ ending.

You stood up shakily, brushing dust off your knees. You’d impacted with the ground at the bottom of the slope pretty hard, but luckily it didn’t seem like you’d sustained any lasting injuries and your assailant was nowhere to be found. You stayed on guard, just in case. You weren’t of any use to your friends dead. ...Could you die here? You knew you’d Saved, but… it still ate at you.

Susie had beaten you down the slope and was waiting ahead, so you walked up to her. She didn’t acknowledge you, staring off into what appeared to be a town. Glancing at it yourself, you couldn’t really blame her.

The buildings were all pure black in color, backlit by some dim blue glow that seemed to permeate the area somehow. Teal light poured from many of the windows, and shone from some points in the distance. You couldn’t decide if they were stars or crystals on the roof of a cavern. The buildings themselves arced in gravity-defying ways, stretching overhead as if to shade the street from some non-existent sun.

“Maybe Sans and Niko landed ahead of us and they’re in town somewhere?” you suggested, glancing at Susie.

“Yeah, sure. Or maybe it’ll be another nut job that’ll attack us on sight.” she said, voice dripping with unnecessary sarcasm.

“Well if you know a way out of here or where my friends are, I’d be happy to follow you,” you said, your frustration leaking into your voice. You didn’t have time for Susie’s attitude when Sans and Niko could be in danger.

Susie just sighed loudly and gestured toward the town before crossing her arms. You walked in, glancing down every alleyway and corridor. You tested one of the doors, but it was locked - looking around your immediate vicinity a lot of them seemed to be RPG-esque shops. Other than the lights there wasn’t any sign of life here, though. You walked further into the city to find some circular town square, the tops of the buildings all curling in towards the center like the points of spears.

In the distance, on the opposite side of the square, was a castle at the bottom of a path of descending steps - from its roof poured what could only be described as a geyser of shadow, erupting up into the lightless sky with which it almost seemed to merge impossibly high above your head. Whatever the substance was, it was fluid; it dimmed the stars or crystals or whatever they were around it.

“I… think that’s where we’re probably supposed to go,” you said, glancing back at Susie.

“Yeah, sure, let’s head  _ toward _ the giant death fountain,” Susie said, crossing her arms. Your eye twitched a little. If this was the way she wanted it you weren’t going to play nice.

“If you’re scared I get it. I’ll go check it out myself.” You waved your hand at her dismissively and started walking toward the castle.

“I am not  _ scared,” _ Susie growled. She shoved you out of the way with her shoulder and you stumbled as you tried to keep your footing. “Try to keep up, freak.”

At least she was predictable.

Susie slammed open the castle doors as you entered a light jog to catch up with her, revealing a plain, pitch-black room. In the center was a cloaked figure that immediately reminded you of the Riverperson.

“Welcome, heroes…!” The figure said.

“Who’s there?!” Susie, more on edge than she claimed to be, took a step backward and readied her fists.

“Do not be alarmed… I am not your enemy. Please come forward, both of you…” The voice was male and soft, muffled by what you could only assume was the cloak. This was all extremely suspicious, but it wasn’t as if you had a better course of action. You walked forward gingerly and Susie matched you pace for pace, not one to be outdone.

“Welcome. I am the Prince of this Kingdom… the Kingdom of Darkness.” A name very reminiscent of the Underground’s Kingdom of Monsters, you noted. You could see Susie give the cloaked figure a skeptical look from beneath her bangs. “Kris, Susie… there is a legend in this land. A legend that one day, two heroes of light will arrive, and fulfill the ancient prophecy foretold by time and space. Please, Heroes… listen to my tale…”

This person already seemed to know your name, which at this point wasn’t unusual for you. You were more relieved by the fact he hadn’t said ‘User’ or your actual name. A prophecy, a prince, fated heroes… all of this  _ really _ felt like a typical RPG setup, almost sarcastically so. It all felt like something Toby Fox would make, but it couldn’t possibly be. You would have remembered all of this, there was no doubt. The explanation still eluded you.

“Of course,” you answered, bowing a little in respect. Playing along for now seemed to be the best way to get answers. You ignored the feeling of Susie rolling her eyes at you.

“Very well then…”

You listened intently at the figure spoke the prophecy, knowing full well how important wording often was in these things. The use of “hopes and dreams” immediately caught your attention, as did the odd idea of “banishing the Angel’s Heaven,” whatever that referred to. You sat there mulling it over as the figure continued speaking, your brain tying itself in knots trying to solve the puzzle before the adventure even really began.

“Delta Warriors! Please, won’t you accept your destiny…?”

“Of cou—

“Nah.” You stopped your own reply short to look at Susie. Was this girl serious?

“W...What?” The figure said, air of mystery gone as he became flustered.

“What he said,” you said. “Seriously, Susie?”

“Do I look like some kind of hero to you?” Susie said, returning your stare.

“B-But Susie, without you the… the world will—”

“So what? If the world gets destroyed… It’s none of my damn business. Might even be kind of fun, honestly,” Susie said, a slight smirk on her face.

“You  _ live _ in the world, Susie,” you said. “So if the world gets destroyed you’re going down with the ship.”

“Maybe. It’d still be fun to watch though,” Susie said. You continued staring at her, hoping to find some sign she was joking. This combined with her nearly biting off your face had you start to question what really went on inside this monster’s head. “Anyway, Kris…” she said, an almost smug look on her lips, “If  _ you _ wanna play pretend with this weirdo, stick around.  _ I’m _ going to find a way out of here.”

...Maybe she just didn’t believe him. You hoped that was the case, though you would think the bizarreness of the situation you were in would be enough to suspend her disbelief. Still, if she was part of the prophecy you couldn’t exactly do this without her. Unfortunately.

“Susie, come on,” you said. “We fell into a magical shadow land after going into a supply closet, you seriously don’t think there’s even the tiniest chance this guy might be—”

You blinked as the cloaked figure was knocked airborne and thrown against the wall by someone riding a bicycle with flaming training wheels. You immediately recognized the silhouette from earlier.

“Ho ho ho! The heroes are already running away… and they didn’t even know I was here. My dad’s gonna make me Son of the Month!”

The newcomer had a very similar body type to Sans, so it wasn’t that far-fetched that you’d mistaken one for the other. He wore blue and white and had a spade motif running throughout his whole appearance, and had a high-pitched, nasal voice that made you think he was fairly young. Great. More complications.

“Who the hell are you!?” Susie said, almost as flustered as the mysterious figure had been a few moments ago.

“I’m…” he said, taking a dramatic pause to do a trick on his bike, “The bad guy.”

“Yup,” you said, deadpan. “You sure look like one.”

“Thanks! I’ve been working on that one,” the bad guy said. “But don’t think your flattery is gonna convince me to let you seal our dark fountain and save the world from eternal darkness, no siree!”

“Oh, I’m sure,” you said, sighing and crossing your arms. At first glance this seemed like some kind of skelebros analogue, a comedic villain inept at being a villain. Or that could just be what he wanted you to think.

“Speak for yourself _ ,” _ Susie said. “I’m sure as hell not helping ‘em.”

“Don’t try to deny it!” Lancer said. “We all know you’re heading  _ east. _ It’s the only way you’re getting home!”

“Really? We didn’t really know that,” you said, tapping your foot impatiently. “Thanks for the information.”

“You’re welcome!” The bad guy said. “Wait - hey! I can’t believe you tricked me like that! Oh ho ho, you are much more clever than I anticipated, Lightners!”  _ Lightners? _ “But it doesn’t matter - because I have a flawless two step plan to make sure you don’t get  _ anywhere. _ Step one. I thrash you. Step two. You lose!”

“Hmm. Nice plan, kid,” Susie said. You looked at her.

“You… really think so?” The bad guy said. “Wow, you guys sure lay it on thick, huh?”

“Eh, I gotta give credit where credit’s due,” Susie said. “In fact… I think we’ll use that plan on  _ you.”  _ Susie’s voice morphed into a predatory growl and you felt your soul rip itself out of your chest completely this time, hovering directly between the bad guy and you and Susie. It was a strange but not unfamiliar sensation. It was like you were both in and outside of Kris’ form at the same time. The part of you still attached to the body instinctively drew your sword as Susie pulled an axe from… somewhere.

“Dunno how I got an ax but, like, that’s cool,” Susie said, hefting it over her shoulder. Everyone stood there waiting, so you guessed it was your turn. You didn’t see an  _ actual _ menu anywhere, but…

You focused on Lancer - that was his name, you realized, though you didn’t know where you’d heard it - seeing if you could Check him. You felt a bizarre urge to point dramatically, so you did.

_ Not to call a spade a spade, but he’s a spade, _ your internal monologue informed you. You snorted a little, caught off-guard. That was certainly Toby Fox dialogue. Then you turned your attention to his bike -  _ Not old enough to ride a motorcycle, so he set his bike on fire. _

Whatever curiosity you had stopped as Susie raised her axe and swung it, making an arc of energy that slammed into your opponent.

“Susie, what the hell?!” you said; or tried to say. Your consciousness had focused in on your soul and it didn’t feel like you had enough control over your body at this specific moment to move your vocal chords.

Thankfully, Lancer didn’t seem that injured as he careened straight toward your soul on his flaming bike. You dodged gracefully, your muscle memory serving you well. Or soul-memory. Whatever this could be considered.

“Susie that’s a damn  _ axe,” _ you said as soon as your turn came around again. “You could kill someone with that! Why would you—” You growled as Susie just shrugged nonchalantly and readied her axe again. “Lancer, look out!”

To your surprise, Lancer actually dodged Susie’s attack. You certainly didn’t remember anyone dodging in Undertale, save for Sans. You spent another round dodging and warned Lancer again, testing out the method. Though Lancer laughed at the idea he would need your help, he still dodged again.

“Wait! Wait a second! My bike’s running out of fuel…!” Lancer said.

Was the battle ending? Thank god. You weren’t sure if you were going to be able to handle Susie trying to murder someone like this. It would be better if everyone in sight was far, far away from her.

“Alright, you punk-a-roos! You had the luck of the draw this time, but next time, the losers will be YOU! Hahaha, bye losers! I gotta get home before dinner!”

With that, Lancer sped out of the castle on his bike. You breathed a sigh of relief.

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Niko opened their eyes slowly, their vision blocked by black leaves. They wriggled around a little bit before realizing their limbs were entangled with the limbs of some kind of tree.

“Hello?” They called out. No one answered.

Niko winced a little as they pulled themself out of the awkward position they were in. This must be where they landed after they fell, they realized. They felt a little sore, but other than that they felt fine. Pretty lucky, all things considered.

Niko took a look around at the mysterious black tree they were lodged in and saw it was filled with some strange, red-and-black fruits shaped like stars. Their stomach immediately growled.

“Well… I guess taking one wouldn’t hurt,” Niko said. “Who knows the next time I’ll be able to get a snack. I really need to find Sans and User as soon as I can, anyway.”

They plucked one of the star-fruits off a branch and took a bite. It was crisp and had a crunch to it, almost like a chocolate shell. And it tasted almost like…

“Marshmallows!” Niko giggled a little and climbed down from the tree before taking another bite of the candy-fruit or whatever it was. Well, at least whatever place they’d fallen into didn’t seem so bad. They looked around before heading to the right.

It looked like they were in store for another adventure!

01000101 01100100 01101001 01110100 01011111 01010000 01110010 01101111 01100111 01110010 01100001 01101101 00111010 00100000 00101110 00101110 00101110 00001010 00111110 00100000 01000011 01101000 01100001 01101110 01100111 01100101 01011111 01010011 01110101 01100010 01101010 01100101 01100011 01110100 00111010 00100000 01010011 01110101 01100010 01101010 01100101 01100011 01110100 01011111 00110001 00001010 00001010 01010011 01100001 01110110 01100101 01011111 01000011 01101000 01100001 01101110 01100111 01100101 01110011 00100000 00111101 00100000 01010100 01110010 01110101 01100101

“Mm hm,” you said, nodding as you half-listened to Ralsei. You were trying to recount everything that had happened so far in your head, trying to see if there was anything you’d missed. You patted your pockets, looking for the Glowshard which was still there. But there was something else there as well. You pulled out a cell phone. Did you have this before? You never really thought to check your pockets before now. Curious, you dialed the first number on the phone and held it up to your ear.

The Dial Up-from-hell noise that ensued nearly made you throw the phone across the room. That sound was all too familiar to you. If you had any doubts about Gaster being involved, they were gone now.

You looked over at Ralsei, who was staring at you expectantly. You must have missed a question he asked or something. You really should have been paying closer attention, but… you had a lot on your mind right now.

...Since when did Ralsei look like this? He was just wearing that oversized Riverperson cloak and… no, you’d been past that. You just did the whole dummy tutorial with him and everything. You knew that intrinsically and you could recall all the details, but…

Why did it feel like the first time you’d actually seen him?

You swallowed the lump in your throat. All you knew was that you needed to find Sans and Niko and then get out of here fast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> <strike> Ahaha it's been two months wow </strike>  
Sorry for the long wait on these! I, like a fool, thought I would have a lot of time to write over winter break and, to the surprise of absolutely no one, I ended up being extremely busy. So. Buuuuuut chapters are here now, right?
> 
> Also, if anyone would like a 'hint': https://www.rapidtables.com/convert/number/binary-to-ascii.html


End file.
